Breunig: Foley is the tail trying to wag the dog

Published 6:05 pm, Friday, September 20, 2013

It's easy for journalists to be glib about Tom Foley's punches and counter-punches last week alleging ethical lapses in the governor's office.

Foley, after all, said he was applying the same standards as journalists. In response to our editorial criticizing his political tactics, he wrote a column for Friday's paper stating that "If the minimum threshold in journalism or in political discourse for bringing up an issue of concern was `proof,' there would be little or nothing brought up. When the media first published articles raising questions about the Rowland administration, they did not have proof. Nor did Woodward and Bernstein -- they only had `Deep Throat,' a single reliable source."

Despite immediate backlash in the media to his "ready, fire, aim" strategy, Foley kept spraying buckshot well beyond newspapers in his Greenwich backyard. During an appearance on National Public Radio's "Where We Live" program, he inspired host John Dankosky to counter in measured tones: "The journalistic standard isn't to throw a bunch of things and see what sticks, just so you understand."

Foley may understand, while embracing that what really matters is how information sticks with the voter. And he may be crafty enough to manipulate the weak links in the modern journalism machine. I've made a choice not to repeat his charges in this space. That doesn't mean you can't find them on the web without any sort of filter.

Many professional journalists, though, remain idealists. So we flinch when we hear Foley comparing himself to the reporters who brought down an American president. "Deep Throat" provided a road map for Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward to explore. They worked tirelessly to confirm details of the Nixon campaign's crimes with multiple sources before their stories were presented to Washington Post readers.

It may seem like a nuanced distinction. It's not. Foley is smart enough to understand how the landscape has changed in 40 years. But I'm pretty confident that Bob Woodward would not have tweeted Deep Throat's accusations from his iPhone while standing in the Arlington garage that served as their meeting spot.

Journalistic standards are challenged every day by the immediacy of the internet. Once upon a time, editors could ponder balance and ethics for hours before their message was delivered to the audience. So it's encouraging that there was a backlash to Foley's efforts to make reporters do his bidding. It's not that Malloy shouldn't be held accountable, but editors and reporters torture themselves over whether sources are reliable. Just because two unnamed people say the same thing doesn't mean one isn't merely parroting the other.

I could easily offer several high-stakes examples of debunking accusations, but I believe error and fact can get tangled in memory. This is the reasoning behind writing corrections in the paper that do not repeat mistakes. Rather than risk smearing anyone with an example of a compromised report, here's a lighter example of how lazy journalism can spiral if not checked.

Three years ago, Justin Bieber's concert film was about to debut at a Wilton theater. Word spread via Twitter that Bieber was poised to make a surprise appearance at the theater. The fuse was lit and our editors (and other news directors) were pressured to dispatch staff to Wilton. Before doing so, Advocate City Editor Jon Lucas hit the pause button for a little fact-checking. He quickly determined that Bieber was in the process of getting a haircut during a taping of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" 3,000 miles away.

A tweener's tweet had briefly flipped the newsroom into chaos.

Foley is being no more responsible than the teenager who fantasized Bieber would appear in Wilton. He is not acting as Woodward or Bernstein. He is not a "single, reliable source." The journalistic standard is to question any source's motivation. Foley's motivation is power.

But it's not 1973. Hushed discussions in a garage have been replaced by the echo chamber that is the New Media. Foley understands what happens when you yell in an echo chamber.